This is the fourth and final post of my initial thoughts. I’m dividing the nineteen award categories into written fiction works (novel, novella, novelette, short story, young adult book), other individual works (related work, graphic story, long form dramatic presentation, short form dramatic presentation), people categories (short form editor, long form editor, professional artist, fan writer, fan artist, new writer), and serial categories (series, semiprozine, fanzine, fancast).

Best Series

The Expanse, by James S. A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)

Luna, by Ian McDonald (Tor; Gollancz)

Planetfall series, by Emma Newman (Ace; Gollancz)

Winternight Trilogy, by Katherine Arden (Del Rey; Del Rey UK)

The Wormwood Trilogy, by Tade Thompson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

I’ve read at least one book and have been meaning to continue The Expanse, InCryptid, and Winternight. I have at least the first book and have been meaning to start the other three series. I was a little disappointed that The Expanse got nominated just before its conclusion, but there’s no guarantee that it would have made the ballot next year. Now I’ll have extra motivation to get caught up by the time the last book comes out.

The only newcomer here is The Rec Center which I’ve noticed on the longlist for the past two years. The Book Smugglers was first nominated as a fanzine, then a couple times as a semiprozine, and now it’s back in fanzine. My own nominees were nerds of a feather and Quick Sip Reviews.

Best Fancast

Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace

I’m very excited to see a BookTube channel on the final ballot. There have been a couple on the longlist, but Claire Rousseau is the first finalist from the community. The others are all returning podcast finalists.

The Hugo Award for Best Fanzine was first awarded in 1955, making it the oldest of the current fan categories, and given every year since with the mysterious exception of 1958 (categories were more or less in flux in those early years).

Best Fanzine:

Any generally available non-professional periodical publication devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related subjects that by the close of 2017 has published four (4) or more issues (or the equivalent in other media), at least one (1) of which appeared in 2017, that does not qualify as a semiprozine or a fancast, and that in 2017 met neither of the following criteria:

paid its contributors and/or staff in other than copies of the publication,

was generally available only for paid purchase.

In spite of some resistance, in recent years many nominators include regularly updated websites or blogs, rather than just traditional zines or e-zines, in their interpretation of this category. Of course, blogs are now getting supplanted by social media so who knows where this category will go in the future. I nominated my five favorite go-to online resources:

In 2011, a podcast won Best Fanzine, and a proposal to create a new category for audio or video fan productions was approved. Best Fancast was first presented in 2012 and ratified to continue for at least four more years. In 2016, it was re-ratified to become an ongoing category.

Best Fancast:

Any generally available non-professional audio or video periodical devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related subjects that by the close of 2017 has released four (4) or more episodes, at least one (1) of which appeared in 2017, and that does not qualify as a dramatic presentation.

While I enjoy listening to the occasional episode, I haven’t managed to become a regular follower of any podcasts. However, a few years ago I discovered Booktube, a community of YouTube channels which are primarily devoted to reading-related videos. I nominated my three favorite that focus on SFF: